Monday, June 11, 2007

"The Blood of Kings" by John Michael Curlovich

Another recommendation by Amazon, and yet another author that I will not read again. Sigh. I don't know exactly how these titles ended up on my list, but so far, only Josh Lanyon was a hit. The others have definitely been misses.

This time around we have young, good-looking, athletic homosexual Jamie Dunn going off to the same college as his high-school crush, mostly in the hopes of picking up where they left off. Tim, however, is a bit on the closeted side, something that eventually causes enough tension to break them up. Enter Jamie's good-looking, possibly older (maybe much older), Egyptology professor Danilo Semekaru, a man of culture and mystery. The student and teacher begin a forbidden love affair, one that will ultimately break them apart, too, although if the split is permanent is not answered, leaving room for a sequel.

This is billed as a gay vampire love story, and I suppose it is, somewhat. Danilo has been around for ages, and I do mean that literally. He wants to share the secret of immortality with Jamie, the first man he has truly loved in centuries. Only problem is that Jamie has to die first, then he must sacrifice other men (and it would seem those men must be gay, also) to maintain his youth. The sacrifices are just that - bloody, gory messes with missing body parts, and yes, you guessed it - those parts need to be consumed by Jamie. Sort of makes the whole biting and sucking your neck look pretty good.

Overall, the plot is a bit vague. The thing that kept coming across was the author's disdain for male homosexuals who do not acknowledge their sexual orientation. Almost all the characters in this book are male, and almost all are gay. They fall into two categories: those that embrace their sexuality and those that are trying to hide it. In fact, the "hiders" are pretty much the ones that pay the price, sacrificing their lives so that Danilo and later Jamie can maintain their immortality. I know it's not easy to be a gay man, but let's not beat the issue to death. Makes for a rather dull book in the end.

Overall, I'd say not to waste time on this. It does have some interesting Egyptian history, but that's not enough to save the novel.

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About Me

Moving into my early 40s, I am finally the person I always hoped to become. I have a wonderful hubby of 9+ years. An ex-Midwesterner, I ran from the snow and ice to dwell in the land of Carolina Blue skies. LOVE IT! I'm an open book - ask me whatever you'd like to know. Secrets have a way of becoming toxic...